Amid a changing global labour market scenario, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shama Obaed Islam on Monday emphasised that “protection abroad must begin with prevention at home.”

Drawing on experiences from her constituency, she expressed concern over irregular migration, human trafficking and migrant smuggling, as well as emerging forms of recruitment fraud, including those facilitated through digital platforms.

The State Minister made the remarks while speaking at a meeting titled “Renewed Government Initiative for Ensuring Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration”, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

State Minister for Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, Md. Nurul Haque, and PM’s Adviser on the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Mahdi Amin attended the meeting as special guests.

She discussed the government’s renewed emphasis on strengthening migration governance by enhancing linkages between Bangladesh’s international commitments, national policies and grassroots-level realities.

She stressed the importance of aligning skills and training with employment opportunities in destination countries, diversifying labour markets and expanding regular migration pathways.

State Minister Nurul Haque highlighted the importance of migrant-friendly policies and accessible service delivery through field-level administration.

Mahdi Amin joined the meeting virtually and appreciated the timely initiative.

He called for enhanced field-level engagement to promote safe and regular migration.

Deputy Commissioners of 14 migration-prone districts shared district-level experiences and challenges relating to migration trends, skills gaps, recruitment practices, irregular migration and the need for migrant protection.

Representatives of the participating Ministries and government agencies informed the DCs about the government’s priorities and longer-term perspectives for strengthening migration governance and promoting safe, orderly and regular migration.

The discussion underscored the importance of strengthening information-sharing and coordination through a whole-of-government and whole-of-society approach, so that grassroots-level realities can be better reflected in national policymaking and Bangladesh’s diplomatic engagements.

In this context, relevant information received from Bangladesh Missions abroad on labour-market demand, destination-country requirements and emerging regular migration pathways was shared with the DCs to support informed action at the local level.

Former Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the United Nations Ambassador Salahuddin Noman Chowdhury, Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, referred to Bangladesh’s international commitments on migration and highlighted skills development, language proficiency and grassroots-level awareness as three key priorities.

Ambassador Dr. Md. Nazrul Islam, Secretary (Bilateral-East & West), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in his concluding remarks, informed that the Ministry would compile the decisions and recommendations emerging from the discussion to formulate a coordinated policy response and outline the way forward.

Senior officials from the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, and Home Affairs; BOESL; Deputy Commissioners of 14 migration-prone districts (Cumilla, Brahmanbaria, Tangail, Kishoreganj, Chandpur, Chattogram, Dhaka, Noakhali, Narsingdi, Mymensingh, Faridpur, Madaripur, Shariatpur and Sunamganj); the Chief of Mission of the International Organization for Migration (IOM); and other relevant stakeholders participated in the meeting.